How the impôt sur le revenu works
The French tax is declared per tax household (foyer fiscal): spouses or married or civil partnership couples declare together, with dependent children. The household income is divided by a number of parts (quotient familial): one part for a single person, two for a couple, half a part for each of the first two children and one part from the third child onwards.
The result of applying the barème to the income per part is then multiplied by the number of parts. This is the mechanism that reduces the bill for families with children and makes the French tax hard to calculate off the cuff.
2026 brackets (2025 income)
The loi de finances de 2026 revalued the barème by 0.9% for inflation. The rates for one quotient familial part are:
Key points
- - Up to 11,600 euros: 0%
- - From 11,601 to 29,579 euros: 11%
- - From 29,580 to 84,577 euros: 30%
- - From 84,578 to 181,917 euros: 41%
- - Over 181,917 euros: 45%
Withholding at source (prélèvement à la source)
Since 2019 the tax is not paid in one go: it is withheld month by month from salary, pension or income, at a rate calculated from your last return. If your income is below the minimum, the withholding is zero.
The taxpayer can request an individualised rate to split the burden between the two members of the couple, and any change in income is adjusted within a few months without waiting for the annual return.
Self-employed: micro-entrepreneur and versement libératoire
The micro-entrepreneur is taxed on a portion of their turnover: a 71% allowance applies to sales of goods, 50% to services and 34% to liberal professions, and the progressive barème is applied to the resulting base.
There is the option of the versement libératoire: paying a fixed percentage on turnover (1% on sales, 1.7% on services, 2.2% on liberal professions) which settles income tax and avoids calculation by brackets. It is only possible if the household income for the previous year did not exceed a threshold, which is reviewed each year.
Dividends from your SAS and non-resident status
Dividends distributed by your SAS are taxed in the hands of the shareholder with the 30% flat tax: 12.8% income tax and 17.2% social contributions. The shareholder may waive the flat tax and be taxed under the general barème if their marginal rate is low.
If you are a tax resident in Spain and the SAS is French, dividends are taxed in Spain under the double taxation treaty between the two countries, with the right to offset what has already been paid in France. The French brackets only apply to those resident there.
